Page:Boys of Columbia High on the River.djvu/137

Rh pointed toward one of those four boys now about to start in this race."

"But why are not they suppressed, Professor?" asked the newcomer in Columbia.

"It happens that their fathers are prominent men in town, and powerful politically."

"I see; that explains it. But I hope there will be something done soon to strike terror into the hearts of this clique of prank lovers, for they will go from bad to worse. Some one was telling me about the way they cut off the electric light at the school, when the assembly room was crowded with people. While that was humorous in a way, it might have led to serious results. Columbia might be a pretty nice town to live in only for this spirit of mischief that seems rampant."

"There goes the starting signal!" exclaimed the old music-master, forgetting everything else in his eagerness to see Columbia win, for he loved the boys with whom he was thrown much in contact.

Frank, as he noted the four contestants from the home town, smiled broadly.

"Not much choice in that bunch, I take it. Shut your eyes and point and you'd be sure to hit a candidate for the ugly job up the river. I wonder which of those four boats has a dab of nice bottle-green paint on her bow about the water line? Queer